


Second chances

by Paralelsky



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fem!Harry, Friendship, Gen, Genderbending, Swearing, Torture, Violence, it's complicated - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-28
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-01-02 21:26:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1061844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paralelsky/pseuds/Paralelsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When her son came barging through the door claiming that there was a wounded man in their backyard, Harry had rushed forward not knowing what she was going to find. Little she did know at the time that the man will change her life forever. Fem!Harry, HarryxLoki - It’s complicated</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was not supposed to happen. Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking when I woke up this morning and the idea gnawed on my brain until I had to write it down. I have other projects on the work, but this one just demanded to be written. So there you have it. Hopefully someone will read it and enjoy it, that's all I'm asking.

The first thing she noticed when she rushed outside following her son’s panic filled voice, “There’s a wounded man in our backyard”, was the amount of blood pooling under the slumped figure. He was lying face down, at the base of giant oak tree, the soil completely soaked. He was so still and grey, for a brief moment Harry feared she had been too late, even as she crouched down and looked for signs of life.  His pulse was erratic and weak and she couldn't risk turning him around until she knew more about the wounds he had sustained, and for a brief moment panic almost settled in, echoes of another time when she had seen friends and family dying, while she was powerless to stop it.

It was then that Harry reminded herself that she wasn't a helpless schoolgirl anymore, she had gone to St. Mungo's preliminary training for nurses before leaving the Wizarding World, and that meant she could actually do something in the situation. So almost praying she wasn't doing something to aggravate the wounds, she pulled out her wand, froze the man in position and with as much urgency as possible she moved him inside her house in one of the spare bedrooms. There she let her training take over and for the following two hours she worked every spell she knew and some she improvised on the spot to stabilize him and stop the bleeding. Finally, when she could no longer think of anything that she hadn't tried, the man peacefully unconscious and the wound somewhat sealed, she spent a few moments gazing at her patient’s too pale and grayish face and before she left the room, she mused to herself. “Someone out there had really wants you dead.”   

_Perhaps_ , she later thought with chagrin, _that should have been a warning of what she was letting herself in_.

xXx

Loki woke up feeling as if he had been encased in lead. He couldn't move any of his limbs, despite feeling that he still had them. Even his eyelids felt heavy, as he struggled to get them to open, hating how vulnerable and weak the situation was making him.

“Stop struggling,” a female voice interjected from his right, and before he knew it, a soft hand had grabbed his face in a strong but careful grip, while another forced his eyelids to open and then put drops of some kind of liquid in both his eyes. For a moment he panicked, the liquid stinging a little, but after a few rapid blinks he saw his vision clear and for the first time he got a glimpse of his surroundings and of his jailer. Because he was completely certain he had been captured again, and this time he vowed to himself he would escape as soon as possible.

“Here, drink this,” the same voice told him while holding a glass to his lips, and for a stubborn moment Loki thought of pressing his lips shut and refusing it, until she tipped the glass just so and the water inside it smeared his lips. And it was as if the thirst he hadn't known he had suddenly sprung to life because he drank with greedy gulps.

“Easy,” the woman said, while easing the glass away and Loki almost growled in frustration, raised head chasing the container.

“Don’t worry, there will be more of that later,” she said patting a soft cloth at his chin where the water had dribbled down, and as she worked, Loki got the first glimpse of his jailer masquerading as a nurse. Younger than he had assumed from her voice, she had a slim build clad in sensible and worn work clothes, dark hair pulled in a  sideways braid and pale skin subtly tinted by, what Loki suspected, were many hours spent outdoors. She looked fragile, weak, and _human,_ and not the sort of jailer anyone would have chosen for the God of Lies, no matter how weak was said god at the moment, and in wasn't until Loki looked her in the eyes that he realized the woman was so much more she appeared at first glance. She had old eyes in a young face, the color of emeralds and magic, and secrets buried deep beneath, and Loki barely suppressed a shiver at the challenge hidden in them.

She was a puzzle, Loki knew, and unfortunately for her, he had never been good at leaving puzzles alone. But first thing first, “Woman, what have you done to me?” he rasped, words almost hurting when they got out.

“I saved you life,” she replied easily, while expertly mixing several colored mixtures into a tall glass. “Here, drink this as well,” and when he glared at her, she sighed, “Look, if I wanted you dead, I would have just left you where I found you with your guts hanging out.” And then she shoved the glass against his lips until he had no option but to drink it or have its contents pour down his face. The potion tasted sour, with herbal undertones and mineral grittiness, but it was its undeniably magic nature that got him to rethink things through. He drank it all, showing he was behaving, only because he had realized that at the moment she was the one having the power. _But he would remember this_ , Loki vowed eyes narrowing to slits when she turned her back to place the empty glass on the bedside table.

“If that’s so, would you at least tell me the name of my savior?” Loki asked, putting such emphasis on the last word until ‘savior’ sounded like something ugly coming from him. If it affected her, she made no move to show it, but she was also silent for a long moment.

“Harry,” she conceded at long last, “the name is Harry. And you should probably go to sleep now.” And with that she went outside the room, closing the door gently behind her.

Loki filled the information in the back of his mind even as sleep began to pull him under. “Harry,” he muttered under his breath, as if tasting each syllable. _A deceivingly unassuming name_ , he thought while his eyes swept over his surroundings before he closed them, _just like the seemly ordinary room where he was being kept_. But he knew better, because even in his weakened state he could tell there were wards humming all over the place. 

**TBC.**


	2. Chapter 2

The second time Loki opened his eyes, he felt much more awake. He still couldn’t move a muscle below his neck, but the dull, throbbing pain radiating from his chest all the way to his limbs told him that largely his body was still in one piece. Quietly he analyzed his cell: cream colored walls, dainty drapes partially covering a window on his right, which had under it a desk covered with bottles of what he supposed were medicines, at least based on their smell. Opposite his bed there was a big dresser and on his left the door. On the surface a quaint place, but underneath it all, it was where the room showed its true colors. When he closed his eyes and concentrated he could actually see them: wards all over the place, soaking through the walls and the furniture until to his mind’s eye they shone almost painfully.

 _Not so ordinary after all_ , he thought, only to be pulled back to the common world when the sound of shuffling feet near him told him he had a visitor. He could hear someone moving in the room, the swishing of fabric as they came nearer; until he could tell they were right beside him.

Slowly, and with great care, Loki opened his eyes for just a little and turned to where he knew his visitor was waiting. The first sight was a blur of browns and whites and Loki had to blink twice for the image to settle into a mop of brown hair, round face, golden brown eyes and an ear splitting grin.

“Hi! You’re awake!” the child exclaimed, but mercifully he didn’t speak too loudly. “I’ll go and tell mom.” And he almost run out of the room when Loki called softly after him, “Wait,” then winced when he realized how pathetic his voice had sounded, but the boy skidded to a halt.

“Yes?” the child answered head cocking to the side.

“I would like some water,…please,” Loki barely remembered to add the last part, when the boy came rapidly around his bed and stopped near the desk. There, with a look of deep concentration on his face, he took a jug sitting on the desk and with only a few sloshing sounds he poured some water into a glass. When he had the glass half full he almost dropped the jug on the desk, wincing a little when the pottery moved a little, but thankfully didn’t dip, and then he stopped short. Because Loki had his arms under the blanket, there was no way he could drink on his own, and the child realized that but seemed reluctant to continue. Resigned, he held the glass to Loki’s lips with exaggerated care, and when the patient had drank, the boy put it on the table with almost visible relief.

The antics of his visitor almost brought a smile on Loki’s lips, but he quickly smothered it. For all he knew, he was in enemy hands - even if that theory got feebler by the minute - but he couldn’t discard it just yet. Thinking about that he continued with what he had had in mind the first time he had realized he was no longer alone: fishing for information. “What’s your name?” Loki asked, keeping his tone mild.

“Teddy,” the boy answered readily, “what’s yours?”

“Loki,” the god answered calmly, watching for the reaction.

True, his botched invasion of Midgard had been a year ago, and the boy was still young, but Loki was positive he must have made some kind of impression.

“Like the Norse God of Lies and Mischief? Cool!” the boy beamed.

Alright, maybe that wasn’t the reaction he had been expected. “Exactly like him,” Loki answered mildly. “Say, Teddy, could you help me with something?”

“Sure.”

“Can you lower the blanket and help me get out my hand? You see, I have this terrible itch on my nose.” Loki made sure he looked suitably contrite, even if his nose did actually start to itch.

“Eh,” for the first time Teddy looked uneasy. “I don’t think I’m supposed to do that. Mama told me not to disturb you.” He was watching the door, fidgeting a little, and Loki knew he had to act quickly or lose him.”Please,” he made sure he sounded extra pathetic, “what harm would that do?”

“More than you’d think,” a new voice interrupted and Loki cursed in his head when he saw the boy’s ears turn red.

“Mama, I didn’t disturb him! He was already awake when I came,” Teddy said shuffling his feet and looking at his mother through his bangs.

“Perhaps, but that doesn’t change the fact that you entered the room when I told you not to. Go and do your homework, we’ll talk later.” She dismissed him only frowning a little and Teddy rushed away. “And no running in the house!” Harry called after him loudly, before turning her complete attention to her patient, “As for you, I’d appreciated if you didn’t try to corrupt my son.”

Loki smirked unapologetically, then he turned serious, “Why can’t I move?” suspicion evident in his tone.

“Because you’re being currently held together by will-power and spell-tape.” Harry answered calmly, already mixing medicines on the desk.

“What exactly does that mean?” Loki frowned. Sure he felt raw and aching, but what she said sounded much more ominous.

“Perhaps it would be better to show you,” Harry said and then she took her wand and waved it above him in a complicated pattern, muttering something softly.

Loki tensed when a strange greenish light covered his entire frame, even if strangely he didn’t feel threatened by it, and then a few moments later the light disappeared and a smaller reflection of himself stared back. The reflection was transparent, floating gently above the bed, and inside it there were lines in deep red and dark patches.     

“What’s this?” he asked, curiosity lacing his tone. He could guess what the red lines were, one particularly long one crossed his entire torso, but the black spots had him worried.

“A spell showing you, your wounds, without actually having to move you.” Harry explained, with a faraway look in her eyes. “Here is a wound to the shoulder and some torn ligaments,” she said tracing some of the red lines, “but the real problem is this, where someone tried to gut you like a fish,” she tapped her wand on the one crossing his belly.

“I don’t understand. A wound like that should have closed in a day, and I’ve been asleep for more than that,” Loki wondered aloud. Harry looked surprised, but hid it quickly, “perhaps from a normal blade you would have. But this was made with a cursed dagger, spelled not to close until you’ve bled to death.”

Loki’s eyes turned flinty, while Harry continued with her explanation, “You’re lucky he was quite skilled and didn’t touch any of the internal organs. Otherwise there would have been nothing that I could do.”

“Lucky,” Loki answered, voice cold. “And the dark spots all over?”

“Poison, most likely from a magical  snake species.” Harry watched him speculatively, then she added the conclusion both of them had reached, “someone out there really wants you dead.”  

“Indeed,” said Loki and then he remained silent and drank all the potions she gave him without protest, too busy thinking. His considerate jailer notwithstanding, the situation was worse than he’d imagined.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far so good. Let's see how long am I going to be able to maintain this updating schedule. Cheers! - Paralelsky


	3. Chapter 3

Folding laundry was the type of mindless task Harry didn’t mind doing by hand. Sure, one swish and flick of her wand would have had the clothes neatly folded and floating to their respective places, but there was something in the smell of detergent and fresh air clinging to the fabrics that was immensely soothing.

Or it used to be, before she let her thoughts roam. Without fail, they concentrated on her patient and all the changes his prolonged stay in her house was already causing.  For one, Teddy was being livelier he’d been in months, and after the third time she’d caught him in Loki’s room showing the injured man one thing or another, she’d just subtly adjusted the wards and let him be with only a stern lecture.

But she wasn’t that much better, Harry reckoned. She’d been careless in using her magic so freely in front of him, but after eleven months spend in a world where most people were non-magical, it had been good to let it free in front of someone and not to worry about shocking them.

It was only afterward that the doubts had started to pile up. Not that she regretted saving his life the day when he had appeared. She was a healer, both by training and personal choice, and letting someone injured to die had never been an option. But - and there laid the problem - she had also known he wasn’t a normal man the moment she had started treating him and her healing spells had encountered magic that had responded back, albeit of a different kind than of her own.

And now, days later Harry wondered if she should have reported the incident to her own watchers, the moment Loki had been stabilized.

Almost against her will, her gaze settled on a small wooden box she had on a counter table to her  right. There, shielded by magic, was a little phone with only one number in its memory. That phone had been given to her by SHIELD, to be used only if they should ever be in need of her particular set of skills or with the express instruction to report everything out of the ordinary. An injured magic-user appearing in her backyard definitely qualified, yet she was hesitant to speak.

“What to do?” she whispered, hands gripping the box so tightly her knuckles were losing color. On one hand, the protocol they had drummed into her head was clear, call if something happened, or else. But her own muddled emotions were far from that. Loki was secretive and mistrustful and sometimes she caught him looking at her almost speculatively, but he was also under her care.

 _Merlin, she was pathetic,_ Harry thought with not a small amount of self derision. She knew next to nothing about him - he was talkative to Teddy but always clammed up when she was in the room - yet she had allowed him access to her home and family just because he was magic, his presence a balm on her solitude, a medicine she hadn’t known she’d needed.

 _Hadn’t she learned that magical didn’t actually mean better?_ _That those possessing it could be cruel and deceitful?_ Even more, in fact, than those that didn’t have it, if she thought of the world she had left behind.

They had been so naïve, thinking that with Voldemort’s death, all their problems would be solved. Except that the Dark Lord hadn’t actually said anything new when sprouting his supremacy non-sense. He had just given voice to all the disquiet and the bigotry that the Wizarding World had brewed in their self-imposed isolation, and when he fell, another was quick to take the mantle. Only that this time they had been clever about it. Not with force and mayhem, but with politics and honeyed words, until even those that had fought against Voldemort had been partially won over. And when they had finally opened their eyes to the deceit, it had been too late, an entire society going to war against the world and against itself. They imploded, leaving behind death and magic reeling out of control, and this time there had been no prophesied hero to carry on the fight and get them out of the hole they have dug themselves. Harriet Potter, The Savior, even she had been too small in the maelstrom of things, until the only thing she had left had been a son, a few possessions and a favor owned by the one being that could give her a way out. And in that moment, for the first and last time on that universe, Harry had called on Death as its Mistress, and Death had answered the call, giving her the direction she needed to go to a world where no one knew knew Harry Potter and where Teddy would at least have a chance to grow and make his own choices, all because a recent tear in the fabric of space and time had weakened the barriers between the dimensions.

And when the ritual was done, the spells spoken and Harry had wrung out every ounce of power from her exhausted body, the doorway had opened and the image of a park had stood before them. With nothing to lose, they had crossed the threshold, and then collapsed on the ground the moment they arrived, never standing a chance against the black dressed agents that quickly appeared on the scene.

Three weeks of interrogations later and the consuming fear of not being able to see her son again, magic so weak she could barely lift a feather, Harry had been set free, under close surveillance.

Her hands moved almost on their own, opening the box and curling around the phone, while she still remembered. She loathed that little piece of technology. Not because of what it was, but because of what it stood for. As she had placed it in the wooden box, she had also buried next to it the memories she knew would haunt her for a long time. Of a family long lost, missed chances and goodbyes never uttered. 

And now, as her fingers hovered over the call button, the phone could stand for betraying her word as well, for she had promised to let him go the moment he was on his feet, but SHIELD would never allow it until they knew for certain he was not a threat.

From the other room peals of laughter broke through her thoughts and Harry almost dropped the phone, the plastic casing sounding a ‘bang’ where it connected with the box. Quickly, before she changed her mind, she put it inside and shut the container close, while at the same time shoving away her doubts as well.

Perhaps she was wrong in not contacting SHIELD, Harry thought while walking to the room where her patient should have been resting and not get caught in whatever game her son had made.  She couldn’t help but feel that the time for that decision was long past, and change was inevitably coming her way. And change, Harry had learned, always messed things up.

xXx

Harry could hear them talking, before she entered the room discussing moves for something that sounded a lot like Chess, but with rules she had never heard before, while several other high pitched voices shouted suggestions and complaints. Curious she leaned on the doorway, the mystery of the extra voices revealing itself to be the Teddy’s Chess Set, a birthday present from his Uncle Ron - and didn’t that memory almost cut her at her knees. The pieces, worn and chipped in some places,knew Teddy, and grudgingly did what he asked, but they didn’t know Loki, so his every move was met with jeering and grumbling. 

Harry snickered when the man took one particularly belligerent Rock and placed it on a vulnerable position on the table, only to have it smashed to pieces by Teddy’s gleeful Pawn. As far as Harry could see, both were playing without a strategy, only going for the moves with most destructive impact. But at least they both had fun, Teddy laughing outright, while Loki was sporting a genuine smile for once.

 _Strange_ , thought Harry watching them both. Seeing Loki smile took years away from his usually guarded face, almost as if he was finally revealing his true nature. Harry tilted her head, and then cleared her throat to announce her presence. “Alright boys, that’s enough for today. One of you needs to finish his homework, while the other needs his medicine,”

Twin disgruntled stares were thrown her way, which she ignored with practiced ease. Grumbling a little, Teddy gathered all the scattered pieces and then left the room, while Loki eased back on his pillow. She had allowed him extra movement, now that the wound was finally closing, but she still insisted that he didn’t strain himself too much. His earlier merriment had gone away, his face smoothed into a more neutral mask. He was still suspicious of her, she could tell in the way he asked questions and always hesitated for a second to drink what Harry handed him, despite her failing to poison him so far, but since she had allowed him partial mobility he had been less inclined to question her every move.

Thinking about how well he and her seven-year-old son where getting along, she asked “Do you have children?”, while carefully mixing his latest batch of potion. When no answer was forthcoming she turned, surprised at how chilly the air was suddenly, as if all the previous warmth had been sucked right out of it.

“Why do you ask?” he inquired, voice devoid of inflection.

Harry arched an eyebrow, then shrugged, “You’re good with Teddy.” She explained while handing him the latest vial.

“Quite,” Loki answered, but refused to elaborate further. Harry didn’t press it, and then left early, forgoing her usual chatting. Some things, she knew It quite well, were sometimes better left alone.

xXx

That night as she was tugging Teddy into his bed, he grabbed her hand but said nothing for a moment, just biting his lips. “Mama, stay with me for a bit?” he eventually asked voice wavering a little.

Smiling despite the lump threatening to choke her, Harry said, “Move over a bit,” and then placed herself on the side of the bed. Teddy immediately followed, his small hands gripping her shirt as he laid his head on her chest. They stood silent for a little bit, Harry leisurely stroking his hair, while Teddy was slowly relaxing to the sound of her heart, when the boy moved a little. “I miss them”, he mumbled against her.

“I know, baby. I miss them too,” Harry kissed the top of his head, then resumed her caressing. Lost in bittersweet memories, she stood by his side long after Teddy finally fell asleep.  

**TBC.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some 'f' bombs closer to the end of the chapter because Tony has a mouth on him. You have been warned.

With freedom in his immediate reach Loki was hard pressed to stay still while Harry moved around throwing several spells at him. He tensed every time her magic tickled his skin and made his scar itch; a pale pink line that marred his chest and reminded him of how closed he'd been to actual death. He didn't like looking at it, but he caught himself absentmindedly tracing it whenever he thought of how he acquired it.

Another scan, another tickle, and Loki turned his full attention to his…healer. With every relaxing of her rules and his subsequent expanding freedom - he had been gradually allowed to move, first just around the bed, then whole room and eventually in some parts of the house - his initial distrust had gone down, while his curiosity had been picked. From seeing her as his jailer, then as his healer, and then maybe something else which he tried not to think of at the moment, she had earned a tenuous position on the short list of people he didn't mind knowing, and he had even caught himself smiling genuinely in her presence. But now, all he wanted was for her to let him go.

At the moment, Harry was frowning, the swish and flick of her wand making symbols dance and change color in the air between them, but as far as Loki could tell she wasn't really worried.

"Can I go now?" Loki asked, still voice in stark contrast with his almost palpable restlessness. Despite her having told him that this was to be the final check-in, a small part of him couldn't help but be on guard. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, metaphorically speaking.

"Magic still a little on the low side", Harry answered, her focus mainly on the symbols the spells painted in front of her. "But other than that you're good to go. Just do me a favor, will you?" she said smiling crookedly, while Loki just froze, "A favor?" he asked, a strange note to his tone.

"Don't go running into any pointed objects and we're golden." Harry answered and with a swipe of her hand the spell she had been weaving disappeared, leaving her and her former patient alone into the sunny living room.

"Don't you have anything else you would ask of me?" he insistent even though old instincts told him to leave as soon as possible and leave her none the wiser.

Harry let out an amused huff, eyes smiling while she was watching him, "Why do you look like no one has ever been kind to you before? I told you, I require nothing but a promise that you'll take care of yourself." She teased, almost reaching out to smooth down the collar of the jacket she had lent him, before she realized what she was doing and stopped, hand hovering in the air before she pulled it back. Loki let her, watched her for a long moment with an unreadable expression and then turned around and went to the door.

"But if you ever found yourself in the neighborhood, you can stop for tea," she called after him and then bit her lip when she realized just how than must have sounded. Loki stopped for a brief moment, and then he opened the door and left without turning back once.

Harry let out a long breath and then closed her eyes for a few seconds, composing herself. "What did you expect?" she whispered in the empty hallway. Predictably, the hallway gave her no answer.

xXx

A week passed with no sign from Loki and Harry stopped glancing outside the window every time she thought someone was coming to the door. Even Teddy was more subdued and clingy, insisting she tugged him every night and sometimes grabbing her wrist and not letting go until he was asleep. She didn't begrudge him, proud he was mature enough not to ask countless questions she didn't have an answer for, yet she hated it too, because no seven-year-old should accept without a fuss the fact that sometimes people left and didn't come back.

Another week gone and life went back to normal, as if her house had never housed a stranger for ten days, all the reminders of his stay completely gone, when the phone she had never wanted in her house started to ring.

She picked it up by the third ring even though a big part of her had wanted to let it go on forever, and when she connected she didn't even had the time to say hello when on the other side Agent Coulson said, "We have a situation. We need you to come in."

Despite the dread pooling in her stomach and a million thought chasing each other in her mind, her voice was steady when she asked, "When and where? Also my son…"

"Will be taken care of," the agent said, not letting her finish. "A car is waiting for you outside." And with a click the conversation was over, leaving Harry standing still in the living room for a few seconds, and then she started to move. Summoning her work bag and a coat, she started to dress just as she exited the house and as promised a black nondescript car was already parked at the front gate.

Fifteen minutes later, a change of cars and a helicopter ride, Harry was on what appeared to be a floating ship in the sky, someone had called it the Helicarier, when she heard her name called from her right.

"Miss Potter, thank you for coming," Agent Coulson said, mild voice betraying nothing. Then again, the man would probably face down a whole battalion of Death Eaters armed with only a small frown and a taser. Harry respected him, perhaps even liked him, when he wasn't calling to disrupt her life.

"You called," she shrugged and fell in step with him, as Coulson maneuvered them between army planes and busy personnel."So what exactly happened, that you had to have me here at such a short notice?"

Agent Coulson waited until they were inside the ship, the closed door cutting the extra noise when he continued with his explanations, "Forty minutes ago Iron Man was brought in after being attacked with an energy blast by unidentified assailants. His right arm is being taken over by what appears to be an aggressive and invasive rot and the resident doctors have no idea how to stop it."

"So you're thinking magic. Alright, let's see what this is about" Harry said just as they were cutting the corner and the doors to Medical came into view.

Right on cue, the sound of something big and metallic crashing amidst several loud voices welcomed them when they stepped inside.

"Get off me, you crazy fucking bastard," man wrapped into a very battered gold and red armor was yelling his head off to Doctor Stevens, SHIELD'S head of Medical Department, while pointing what looked like some kind of weapon to the doctor. For his part the doctor looked ready to pull his hair out.

"Gentlemen, what's going on here?" Coulson asked, entering the room, Harry close on his heels.

"He's refusing treatment!" Stevens exclaimed, looking frustrated enough to squeeze the life out of his patient.

"I'm not!" Tony Stark shot out almost immediately. "You're trying to cut off my fucking arm! Just keep your incompetent hands off me. JARVIS!" he called and when no answer was forthcoming he swore with great relish.

"Agent Coulson, if I may," Harry said already moving closer to the wounded man. Pale and sweaty, it seemed that only fury and fear were keeping him still conscious, while his right arm dangled like dead weight. Her eyes zeroed in the arm, noticing the ugly greenish and purple rot enveloping it, and then she started barking orders. "Everyone clear the area, and take the fancy equipment with you. I will be taking care of this."

For a second the medical staff just stood there gaping at her. "Do as she says," Coulson intervened when no one moved while Stevens looked like he wanted to protest some more. "Move it," the agent stressed the words and two nurses came to help Harry as she was already unplugging all the machines connected to Tony Stark.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, keeping unconsciousness at bay by pure stubbornness. The arm must have hurt him a great lot - he was taking in shallow breaths between words - but he never took his eyes of her, "and why are you unplugging the equipment?"

"Because magic makes it go on a frizz. And I'd rather not have it explode around me while I'm saving your arm" Harry said, moving quickly. "Now sit still and think happy thoughts" she said while tapping Tony's forehead lightly with her wand just as he was opening his mouth to ask more questions. The man was out as a light, and seeing that the surrounding area was clear thanks to Agent Coulson and his men having herded everyone out of the room, Harry immediately set to work.

She shot an identification spell at the sickly mess that was the man's right arm, and as she watched flare in response she couldn't help but purse her lips as the symbols appearing above it told her everything she wanted to know. A transfiguration spell, combined with a flesh eating curse, probably someone's sick idea of a clever attack.

_Alright then, she had a spell to fry_ , she thought just as she prepared to cast her next spell, rapidly considering and discarding options as she planned her every move. Not wasting any more time, she dove into it, the surroundings ceasing to have any meaning as her entire focus settled on the her current enemy.

And the spell fought her back with everything it got. It acted a lot like a vicious beast that had finally gotten its claws onto some hapless prey and almost everything she threw at it only managed slow it down for a bit. It was strong, so very strong, and had Harry been anyone else, someone with less power or less experience with the dark arts and their consequences, she might have lost the battle, but she kept going, a game of cat and mouse until she got hold of it weakness. And when she did, the whole thing unraveled like a string of badly woven yarn. And just as she was getting out of the trance she always went under while fighting a challenging spell, she realized two very important things. First, while the spell had been impressively strong, it had also been sloppy, as if its caster had recently come into their powers and decided to forgo solid work and fine details because they figured sheer amount of power would do the trick. And secondly, she had also recognized the signature behind it, the special feel of the magic it created it, because it was the same magic she had spent almost a week scanning it daily.

Just as she was coming down from her high, the doors to Medical burst open and a strong presence, somewhat familiar although she could have sworn she had never met the man before, entered the room and bee-lined for the exhausted Tony Stark, who was slowly coming back to consciousness.

"Was it Loki?" Thor, God of Thunder asked, anguish plain in his face and voice, "Was it my brother?"

And luckily his entry had created such a commotion that nobody saw Harry visibly jerk at his words and almost drops her wand.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BWAHAHAHAHA! "cough, splutter" - Yep that was my evil laugh. Now let the speculations begin, did he or didn't he do it? You know who I'm talking about. "smirk"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've updated the Tags for the story. Be advise there's torture in it. You have been warned.

"Unless Loki goes around as a busty blond babe, I don't think he was the one to attack me," Tony Stark said while trying to find a better position in one of the uncomfortable chairs Fury insisted to have in the debriefing room. His right arm ached as if still pined with a thousand needles and he kept clenching and unclenching his fist.

"So you were too busy staring at her rack to dodge?" muttered Hawkeye loud enough to receive a few frowning looks from the people around him and a particularly dirty one from Iron Man. Before the exchange could escalate into childish name-calling, Steve Rogers redirected the conversation. "Thor, do you have any idea who that is?"

The asgardian frowned, deep in thought, "The only one who comes in mind is Amora the Enchantress. She was banished from Asgard for using mind-spells," he said shoulders slumped.

"Cheer up, big guy," said Iron Man with fake lightness, "you said it yourself. Loki's body was not in Svartal…whatever. Chances are he will be attacking us anytime from now."

"Tony!" Steve intervened, while the inventor shrugged unrepentant, and then the discussion degenerated into speculations.

For her part Harry had just stood quietly on the side, having already delivered her report, short and to the point, on the magical nature of spell that had incapacitated Iron Man. The Loki they were discussing sounded like a different man from the one she had come to know in the ten days she had cared for his health, and even if a small part of her hoped they were talking about two different persons, the odds were not in her favor.

Eventually she gathered her courage to whisper to the agent sitting next to her, "Who is this Loki everyone is talking about?", only to have the usually unflappable Agent Coulson visibly flinch and then look at her with surprise. A moment later he replied, his voice almost steady, "You came here only after we encountered him. Why do you ask?"

"If he's and dangerous as they make him to be, then chances are him and I will cross paths in the future. Especially if he keeps attacking SHIELD." Harry answered, trying to sound as truthful as possible. As she spoke she could feel the words  _I must not tell lies_ tingle painfully on the back of her hand. Harry cursed silently and tried not to wince.

 _Who would have thought that for all the reasons to hate Umbridge, making her unable to tell outright lies would be the most aggravating one?_ Then again, nobody had warned her that writing the same thing a thousand times, in blood, on a magical parchment and using a magical quill, until the phrase led to permanent scaring on the back of her hand would be similar to signing a magical contract.

Luckily for her, Coulson didn't seem to notice anything amiss, and after giving her words due consideration he had replied calmly, "I will see that the relevant information will be delivered to you."

Several hours later, after she had had the time to read all the files she had been given when she left Headquarters, Harry stood with her head on her hands, thoughts buzzing around her mind like angry bees. For once she wasn't sure what to believe, or how she could have been so mistaken in her first impression of the man,  _no asgardian_.

 _Had she known all this from the beginning would have she still aided him?_ She asked herself, trying to put back some order into her conflicting emotion. And the answer ' _Yes'_ , when it came, gave her at least some measure of peace, even though it opened the door to more questions.

A lonely howl resonated into the house and Harry jumped, realizing that she had lost more time than wise with her doubts and that the full moon was already bright in the sky. Knowing she had more pressing matters to attend to, she tidied the files a bit and then exited the kitchen by side-door and took the stairs down to house' modified basement. There, she knew, Teddy had already shed his human skin and fallen to the curse he had inherited from his father. And if her experience held true he would be growling the moment he saw her, in wait for their monthly ritual of asserting dominance and then providing comfort one to another.

Her thoughts on Loki would have to take a step back, Harry decided, as she closed and warded the door behind her.

Too bad nobody had informed the asgardian on that.

xXx

_Earlier on Asgard…_

"Wake up," Loki commanded, voice cutting through the silence of the bedroom. The man it was addressed to, jolted awake as if prodded by a cattle rod and then started to tug ineffectually at the ropes binding him, ""What…where am I? You!" eyes as wide as saucers, he froze when he got glimpse of his captor, then started to move with more urgency.

"Me," said Loki mildly, coming closer from the shadows. "Don't bother. These are Skadi's bindings. I can attest to their strength," he smiled with all his teeth showing. The man on the bed moved some more, then stopped resigned. "What are you doing here?" he asked voice hitching on the last word.

"What, no warm welcome?" Loki said while tracing his finger over one of the leather ropes cutting into the flesh of the captive's arms. "Then again, I bet you really expected me to die this time."

The man snarled, head barely raised as his bindings kept him almost completely immobilized. "You should have never lived. You are blight on the Royal's Family's name. A mistake." He spoke through gritted teeth.

"And yet I'm still the prince, and you still just a captain of the guards." Loki said deceptively soft. "Balder, the sinning one, Asgard's other golden boy, so much like a young Odin, than the All-Father's own flesh and blood. Now look at you." Loki parted his arms as if presenting the bound asgardian to an unseen audience, "Murderer."

"You're still alive, aren't you?" Balder asked, bitterness lacing his every word. He had stopped struggling, the ropes cutting the feeling into his arms and legs and was now watching the other god with narrowed eyes.

Loki ignored the question as he primly seated himself on the side of the bed,"I'm not even going to ask why you did it. I'm sure that the All-Father must have at one point complained about the problem I've become, and you, like a good and obedient dog jumped to the chance to prove your loyalty."

As Loki spoke voice deceivingly mild, the glare the other man was throwing his way became more and more poisonous. "What I want to know is just one simple thing."

"I'm not telling you anything." Balder declared defiantly.

Loki glanced at his captive, smirk firmly in place and eyes as cold as ice. True he had miscalculated when he had returned from Svartalfheim under the guise of the guard send there by Odin and then reported to the All-Father. Maybe his glee at the king's pain when he had announced 'Loki's death', or maybe something else had given him away, because when he had left the Throne Room thinking he had fooled everyone, Balder and his loyal guards had ambushed him and taken him into a hidden chamber. Even then he hadn't been too concerned, sure Odin would keep him alive. Except that Balder had taken out the hood they had blinded him with and with a righteous air had said, "For Odin," and then he had thrust a dagger in Loki's gut and left him there to bleed to death. Had his will to live and magic not been strong enough, and had Hela been more eager to claim his soul, he would have never stumbled upon the only place where he had given another chance to live.

Thinking about his narrow escape from death broke the tight control he had on his rage and brought to light his more sadistic side.

"But you will, Balder. You will," Loki said and then as fast as lightening he summoned and jabbed a small wooden pike into the fleshy part of Balder's exposed arm. The asgardian swore, the pain giving him incentive to struggle, but the binds were unrelenting. Loki let Balder exhaust himself, then asked almost on a bored tone. "Now tell me little guard. Who made you the dagger you used to stab me?"

Hours later, Loki left the Royal Palace blending from one shadow to another, no one the wiser of his little visit, one name finally wrung out from the other's asgardian bloody lips. He had left his prisoner still alive, returning the same courtesy they had shown him. After all it wouldn't do to start Ragnarok ahead of the schedule.

But as he traveled from one world to another, looking for the Enchantress that somehow had grown from a reluctant ally to someone bold enough to try and kill him, and not finding her anywhere in the Nine Realms, Loki grew more and more frustrated.

He was wasting his time, he realized as another hiding place proved to be just a dead end, time he needed to regroup and thing of a plan of attack against the one that would see him dead.

Yet, nowhere in the Nine Realms he could think of a place where he felt safe enough to stop.

Unbidden, the image of a cozy little house came into his mind and his body started moving before he made the conscious decision. Maybe Midgard would provide him with the answer.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Alright kids, Wikipedia Time!
> 
> Balder (Baldur, Baldr) – Norse God, half-brother to Thor, invulnerable to anything except mistletoe. His death is one of the events that lead to Ragnarok. He gets shot with a mistletoe arrow by his blind brother Hod, who has been tricked by Loki into it. Also at one point, Hela (Goddess of Death, daughter of Loki and Ruler of the Underground) promises to release Balder into the living world if everyone cries for him. Everyone does, except for one giantess, Pokk (thought to be Loki in disguise), so the god remains in the land of the dead, from where he will come to rule the new earth after Ragnarok.
> 
> Skadi – Norse goddess, one of Odin's wives with whom she had many children. Her relationship with Loki is complicated. She came to the Aesir looking for revenge after her father's death, and was satisfied by several conditions, one of which was that someone makes her laugh. That someone turned out to be Loki. Also at the end of Lokasenna, after Loki insults all the gods and goddesses at a banquet he gets punished by getting bound with the cold innards of his son Nari, while Skadi places a venomous snake above his face. The venom that drips is collected by Loki's wife Sigyn in a basin, but when the basin gets full and she goes to empty it, the venom falls on Loki''s face causing him to writhe in pain, producing earthquakes.
> 
> Norse mythology – clean, simple fun, right?


	6. Chapter 6

Harry stood on the floor, Teddy snuggled in her lap. His paws sometimes twitched, and he whined in his dreams, while she absentmindedly played with one silky ear. Despite her earlier resolution to keep Loki out of her thoughts, her mind swam with all the information she had received just that day. And with those folders sitting on her living room after she had read them more than once, it was no surprise that her thoughts couldn't settle.

So it stood to reason that when she least wanted him to appear, Loki found a way back into her house.

"I was under the impression that when you invite someone back into your home, you don't try to keep them outside when they respond," Loki purred, while Harry straightened up from her slouched position near the wall. In her lap Teddy whimpered sensing her growing tension so she started petting him again, while never taking her eyes off her unexpected guest.

"If you're referring to the wards, they are not meant for you alone. I was trying to keep everyone out." She answered calmly.

"So it got nothing with those files I saw while making my way down here?" Loki asked, while moving closer and stopping only when it appeared that an invisible wall was separating him from the part of the room where Harry was standing. He frowned, green light already forming around his clenched fist when she stopped him in his tracks, "Please don't tear it down. It was tricky to put it up in the first place and I would rather not repeat the experience. As for those files," Harry sighed, looking to her lap, "I am a magic user on a place where the last magic user tried to take over a couple of months before I appeared. Did you really think that SHIELD won't have their eyes on me?"

Loki stood still for a moment, as if pondering her words and then he let the magic flare die as he slowly unclenched his fists. Giving her one measuring look he then retreated to a corner and copied her position as he settled down on the floor. For a long moment after he began to assess the room, its small and high placed windows, the padded walls and floor, the invisible wall separating two thirds of it from the rest of the house.

Harry could see it on his face when it dawned to him what exactly was the room where she was currently sitting in. For a fraction of a moment his eyes had widen in surprise but immediately afterward he had closed his expression under a speculative mask. "What are you hiding in there?" he asked, something strange creeping in his tone.

Harry snorted, "Not what, but whom?" and then she straightened her legs making the pup sleeping in her lap completely visible.

Loki's response was a sharp intake of breath, "Is that Teddy?", he asked almost hesitantly.

"I am surprised you recognized him in this form."

"I knew he was a shapeshifter, but I didn't think he could change species as well," Loki answered, eyeing her and her son speculatively, ""is he even your son?"

The tentative atmosphere changed in an instant, as Harry glared at him, "I might not have given birth to him, but he's my son in everything that counts." She said, voice so cold she could have frozen boiling water.

_Magnificent_ , Loki couldn't help but think as something long forgotten stirred inside him, seeing her in that moment more dangerous than the wild beast she was cradling in her lap.

"So what's your story?" he asked, keeping his voice neutral.

Still glaring at him, Harry didn't answer for a few moments, then she smirked which immediately made the air in the room breathable again. "It doesn't work like that," she informed him, "a question for a question. If you want to know more you'll have to answer some yourself.""

"Then ask," Loki said, making a show of sitting more comfortably on the floor, while he rested his arms on his bended knees.

Harry, for her part, pretended to ponder for a moment, then she went for one of the things she was more puzzled about, "Tell me this, why would you attack Earth when you clearly had no intention in actually conquering it?"

Loki stilled, caught on the wrong foot. "Why would you say that?" his voice flat. It wasn't as much as what he said but how he did it, and Harry knew immediately she'd found a touchy subject.

"Several things that don't add up." Harry said, pretending to be fully immersed in petting her sleeping son, while watching Loki with the corner of her eye. "Now, I don't consider myself a master strategist, but the whole thing, while flashy and destructive enough was laughably inefficient given your declared purpose. And I'm not the only one to think so. There are some excellent questions that Tony Stark, I think, put in the report he submitted of the whole incident," she added.

"Such as?" Loki asked, eyebrow cocked upwards. His smile was mocking as if he was only amusing her own wild notions, but there was a jagged edge to it that told her he was rattled about what she was asking.

"Well, you clearly know how to use the Tesseract. So what was the point of activating it for 24 hours before you actually came, except for alerting SHIELD in clearing the facility. Not to mention that a scientist controlled by you thought of a way to disable the portal, or that the only thing needed stop the invasion was your scepter, which you conveniently lost during the battle, right next to the device. So you're either the worst general in history, or there so many more layers to the whole attack on Earth than most people see."

"And how come you can see them?"

"Maybe because I'm an outsider? Who knows?" Harry shrugged.

"You people see only what I want you to see." Loki answered waving a hand dismissively.

"Really now."

But Loki refused to say more on the matter. "I believe that now it's my turn."

"You do realize that you haven't told me anything definite."

"What's the story of your son?" Loki continued regardless of the dirty look Harry was throwing him.

"It's not as much a voluntary shape-shifting as it is a curse. He inherited from his father who was bitten by a werewolf, ironically name Fenrir. Ring a bell?"

"My son didn't bit humans," Loki spoke clearly, eyes narrowing at her.

"So at least some of the legends regarding you are real, good to know," she said, then she continued with the explanation, "but no, that particular Fenrir was human and not of this dimension."

"How did he become your son?"

"I am his godmother. When his parents died fighting to free my world I took him the moment his only other living relative was too ill to care for him. Nobody knew that in a couple of years that same world would try to kill him, or treat him as if he was sub-human,"

"Is that why you left?"

"Part of it, but if you want to know more, I'm going to need some straight answers from you, and not all that wiggling you've done so far.""

"Ask, but I don't promise to answer."

"Do you regret the attack on Earth? All the destruction and the lives lost?"

"Do you wish to see if I can feel remorse? Why should I care? Your human lives are nothing but mere candlelight compared to my lifespan."

Harry was silent for a long moment, pondering her next question.

"Have I shocked you?" Loki asked, smiling without mirth. He looked more broken than when he had first appeared on her life, and at that time he had been on death's doorstep.

"Shocked? Not really," she answered after a fashion. "I suspected as much after I finally read your file." Which actually made her own decision to let him into her house all the more questionable. What exactly had she been thinking, even Harry could answer it completely.

"But one more. If Teddy and I had been in New York at the time of the invasion, what you have done?"

"Nothing," Loki said sincerely, lifting one shoulder lightly. "I didn't know you then."

And that Harry could tell, in Loki's case made all the difference.

They didn't talk for the rest of the night and sometimes early in the morning she must have gone asleep, because when she had woken up, sunlight was streaming in the room but Loki was nowhere to be seen. In her lap Teddy was still sleeping, having transformed back into human form sometimes after the moon had dawned.

Moving lightly, so she didn't disturb him, she summoned a blanket to cover him and then she stumbled up the stairs into the kitchen. There she practically zoned on the bubbles the old pot made while she made coffee, only to be jolted when somebody rang her doorbell repeatedly.

"I'm coming," she mumbled, almost stubbing her toe while searching for the keys to the front door.

"What in Merlin's name?" she asked, dumbfounded, just as she opened the door to the biggest flower bouquet she'd seen in her whole life. It literally covered the delivery guy who had been ringing the doorbell.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Harry is not an animagus in this, nor is she a werewolf, yet she can impose her will on a juvenile werewolf. How? Let the speculations begin!
> 
> Para :}


	7. Chapter 7

"Sir, Miss Potter is here to see you," Jarvis's voice cut through the noise of the lab, making Tony blink and then turn off the holographic designs he was working on.

"Finally," Tony smiled in response and after taking something from his worktable he hurried to the elevator.

"Should I cancel the order for a dozen of giant plastic flamingos?" Jarvis inquired innocently.

"Too obnoxious?" Tony pretended to think about it, barely suppressing a chuckle.

"Just a tad, Sir."

"Put in on hold. She might still need some persuasion for what I'm going to propose," Tony said, then mentally prepared himself for the conversation he was about to enter, just as the elevator opened soundlessly.

Harriet Potter had been a surprisingly difficult woman to persuade so far. Even now, sitting ramrod straight on one of the chairs placed around the room, waiting for him, she looked as approachable as hedgehog. Too bad he had a soft spot for those little critters.

"A drink, Miss Potter?" he asked, grin firmly in place, going straight to the bar. This was the second time he played host to a magic user in that very room, Tony remembered, and the first time he got thrown out of the window. Hopefully the next argument would go differently, but just in case he checked to see if he still had his bracelets.

"Mr. Stark."

"Tony, please. Mr. Stark makes me think you're talking to my father," he interrupted her, while deftly pouring expensive scotch in two glasses.

Harry narrowed her eyes, "Mr. Stark. The flowers were an acceptable but unnecessary 'thank you' gesture, but what were you trying to achieve with all the other things you send me?", she asked referring to the delivery that started with an extremely large flower bouquet, followed by ten pounds of expensive liquor chocolate, a petting zoo and finished just that morning with a twelve foot tall teddy bear that looked more creepy than cuddly.

She made no move to take the glass from him and with a sigh, he placed it on a table near her. "When you didn't answer to any of the messages I've sent you, I had to find something to make you come to me."

"And inane gifts were your answer?" Harry asked, getting ready to leave.

"They got you here, didn't they?" Tony smoothly placed himself between Harry and the elevator door. Pretending not to notice her narrowed eyes and pursed lips he continued rapidly, ""And since you're here, would it be such a bother to listen to me?"

Harry tensed, but made no move forward. Tony counted that as a victory which bolstered him to continue, "I want you to work for me as a magic consultant."

"Mr. Stark," Harry sneered, "Everything I was willing to give on the subject of magic, SHIELD already has on file. I suggest contacting them for further information.""

"Yes, but what SHIELD has, is merely scratching the surface." Tony needled.

"I won't help you build more weapons." She enunciated each word with distaste.

"Why do you assume I want to work on a weapon? Don't you know I'm done with that?" Tony said, raising his hands as if to prove his harmlessness.

"And the Iron Man suit?"

"Technically that's a piece of advanced prosthetic." Tony said hiding his smile with a sip from his glass. Harry huffed and tried to go round him clearly done with the conversation, only to stop when he leaned forward and grabbed her by the wrist. She glared at him, but remained motionless until he let go and then took a step backwards while watching him through narrowed eyes. Again positioned between her and the door, Tony dropped the smile,"What if I tell you that us working together could improve the lives of everyone?"

That caught her attention, "How so?"

"Catch!" Tony said instead of explaining, taking an object out of his pocket and throwing it gently at her.

She did it without looking, and then she did a double take at it when she realized she was holding a sleek transparent cell phone and almost dropped it to the floor. Then Harry quickly tried to give it back while Tony sidestepped her.

"No, don't. It's safe for you to use it, I promise you. It's a modified Stark phone, Avenger edition, Thor tested and approved. And if anything can function around your magic is that little guy."

"How?" she asked dubiously studying the device. Tony thought he should be insulted at her disbelief.

"I took the liberty of improving the schematics SHIELD used for that brick they gave you. Appalling design. And when I say improve, I mean I build it from scratch. No, keep it! It's yours," he said when she tried to give it back one more time.

"A bribe?" Harry asked, her face a blank mask. It had been quite surprising to see how fast she had switched from showing her frustration to going all business like. Even Tony, master of misdirection was a little bit impressed.

"Not, not a bribe," he said trying to put as much honesty in his tone. "But I do want in return is to have more than a fighting chance the next time a magical lunatic comes around and threatens my city. And for that I need you working for me. Some sort of magical consultant."

"And what's in this for me?" Harry said, while sitting back on the chair she had used when he first came in the room, all traces of her previous nervousness, now completely gone.

Tony grinned, feeling he was back on familiar territory - charming a potential business partner. "Your world was based on magic, correct?" he said then he waited for her to nod before he continued. "But here, here technology is queen. And in no small part because of me, technology is evolving at an unprecedented pace. So that means that in a couple of years a house with no electricity, cable or Internet access, not to mention someone who doesn't have a cell phone is really going to stand out."

"I can manage," Harry said, head tilted to the side. She still hadn't touched her drink, and she had put the phone he'd given her next to the glass on the table. She was giving him her full attention.

"But the thing is, you shouldn't have to. And what about your son? Or any children he might have?" Immediately after he brought the subject up, Tony feared he had made a miscalculation, as all traces of interest fled from Harry's suddenly tense frame.

When she spoke, the subtle threat hiding beneath her words made the hair on his arms stand at an end. "And how do I know you're not going to use what I teach you against me some day?"

"You don't, and there's nothing I can promise you that will completely convince you," he admitted, having realized that honesty was the best policy in this negotiation. "But I tell you what, unless you start to threaten everything I hold dear, that knowledge will be treated as a Stark patent. And believe me, I'm very possessive of my toys." Tony grinned, somewhat vicious, which got him an amused twitch of her lips in return.

"Speaking of possessions, SHIELD might have something to say about you propositioning me, Mr. Stark." Harry said getting up and ready to leave, this time without the urgency.

"I'll handle SHIELD. Do we have a deal?" Tony asked, going to the bar for a second drink.

"I'll think about it. And Mr. Stark, no more gifts." Harry said just as the elevator door closed soundlessly in front of her.

For his part, Tony let out a long exhale, feeling the tension leaving him. "That went well," he said pouring himself another glass.

"Sir, SHIELD has requested your assistance for a breaking in at Lumina Pharmaceuticals. Captain America is asking for backup." Jarvis's voice cut through his contentment.

"Since when does the good Captain can't handle a couple of thugs?" Tony grumbled leaving his drink and hurrying to his loading platform, robotic arms already moving in an intricate dance which assembled his amour around him.

"Since the robbers appear to be Hydra affiliated," replied JARVIS smoothly just as Tony took flight.

**TBC.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was I the only one who found that giant rabbit thing Tony Stark gave to Pepper as a 'forgive me' gift creepy as hell? Or the strawberries he bought to which Pepper is allergic. Clearly Tony has a history of insightful and appropriate gifts. ;)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Violence, explosions, swearing (Tony has a mouth on him) and hints of torture (mostly off-screen). If these are triggers for anyone, I apologize, but you had to know they will come eventually, seeing that this fic started with a gaping gut wound. You've been warned.

"Right Jarvis, what have we got?" asked Tony while surveying the scene bellow. Two cars and a truck carrying chemicals had exploded earlier and the thick smoke was billowing up, obscuring the view, but the shouts and occasional gun-fire told him the fight was still going strong.

"Sir, Captain America is asking for assistance, twenty feet to your right," Jarvis answered calmly just as Tony snooped down, stopped midair and used his hand repulsors to swipe two of the guys keeping Steve Rogers down.

"Did someone forget to eat his Wheaties this morning?" Tony asked floating three feet above ground while Captain America, now on more equal footing made short work of the other two Hydra soldiers fighting with him.

"Iron Man, look out!" called the Captain just as one of the soldiers that Tony had previously blown away and who should have been down for the count, came running, then leaped to an impressive height and hit Tony with far more force the inventor had expected. Luckily the blow landed on the reinforced part of his breastplate, and Tony had already been flying away, but some sensors inside the HUD were blinking worrisomely.

Tony narrowed his eyes, "Correction, guess these guys stole it from you," he snapped just as he parried three successive foot strikes and finding a quick opening he blasted his opponent with another, slightly more powerful repulsor jet. The soldier flew into a car, denting the front door and there he stayed, seemly stunned.

"Man, don't these guys stay down?" asked Tony, when another Hydra soldier jumped at him. One blast later the guy was hurling down the street, but seemed little worse to wear. Something was either really wrong with the picture, or his suit was getting out of juice faster that it should be.

"Iron Man, I have it covered here. Stop those guys from running away," said Captain America while grappling with two very spry Hydra soldiers. In the distance two others were running away, a large container strung between them. Neither seemed very bothered by the bulk and the obvious weight.

"On it, Cap," Tony said and took to the sky, Jarvis already calculating routes and possibles ways for escape. He was so intent in pursuing his prey, he barely managed to dodge the vivid green blast that landed right in front of him. "Hold on there," he said hovering in the air, while the Enchantress came into view.

"Iron Man," she said smiling like a cobra, "I thought I had dealt with you."

"Performance issues are a thing for you Asgardians, I can attest," Tony replied, cheekiness obvious even with the metallic tinge to his voice.

Enchantress narrowed her eyes. "No matter," she said and then made a complicated gesture with her hand. For a split moment nothing happened, and Tony had the perfect reply ready on his tongue when sudden burning caught his entire right side. Like a thousand fire hot needles piercing him all at once, the pain stole his breath and stopped his thoughts for a long moment, the panicked whistling of several sensors in his HUD a distant event. And then just as soon as the pain caught him, it was gone, a balm covering his smarting skin, an energy familiar even though he had only felt it once before and then his lungs could breathe again. "Sorry, darling," he mocked, even though his words came a bit strained, "but cheap tricks don't work on me." And with it he fired his repulsors where Enchantress was staying, startling her.

"Who has you under their protection?" she asked, already teleported to another point. "I didn't know SHIELD got themselves a magic user."

"I have no idea what are you talking about," Tony bluffed, even as he dodged another blast of green flames and responded with a hit of his own.

"Don't lie to me, that curse I've hit you with last time should have killed you in half a day, and no science of yours could have stopped it. No, you got yourself a little magic user muddling in business they should have. SKURGE!'

"Hey lady, what's with the name callin…" he was almost finished when an axe yielding behemoth landed near him and with a mighty swing send him barreling into a nearby building.

'Where the hell did he come from?' Asked Tony outrage and hurt coloring his voice, while trying to get up.

'Your left, Sir,' Said Jarvis, just as the alien, suddenly in front of him, and seriously how did someone of that mass moved around so quickly, swung a meaty arm that would have dented the armor if Tony had taken in full on. Deflecting to the side still took far more energy than it should have, and the second glancing blow almost sent him to the ground. The guy was a powerhouse, set on pulverizing Tony, and that's when he realized he had to take the fight on more even ground - him flying around while the other tried to catch him.

He got just as high as the Asgardian, when a fist clamped itself on his ankle and hurled spiraling him to the side, and then left was right, up was down and everything in between for a few dizzying moments, and then the sudden stop just as jarring to his poor abused inner ear.

Tony felt as if he'd been tumble-dried, his vision telling him the world was tilting in several alarming directions all at once, but the view of the rapidly approaching behemoth, axe ready for a swipe gave him the doze of shock needed to shake of some of dizziness.

"Jarvis, fire all you've got." He whispered with urgency, eyes frantically moving from one blinking sensor to another on his HUD. On both arms panels slid off and several miniature rockets flew and impacted with the assailant. The resulting smoke hid the result and Tony let out a relieved breath, only to have it stop in his throat when with a growl of annoyance a blast of ice spikes flew towards his position. Moving up and away with urgency and far less grace than usual, Tony asked, "What the fuck was that?" only to see his attacker apparently without a scratch and looking for him on the ground. The battle axe had an intense sheen, as if it had been frozen and Tony was struck with a horrifying realization – the weapon was magical.

 _Right then_ , he thought,  _time to bring out the big guns_. "Jarvis? Redirect all non-essential energy to the unibeam." Tony said tersely, keeping as much distance between him and the Asgardian, who, at the moment seemed ready to make a jump for him.

"Right, Sir." Jarvis replied, "Need I remind you that if the beam is deployed the suit will be non-operational for at least 2 minutes?""

"Details, Jarvis," Tony answered watching with trepidation as one by one several sensors from his HUD blinked out, while a countdown had started on the down left side – almost there.

"Tell me something, Mr. Skurge," Tony asked while still flying just out of reach of the behemoth. "Why does a woman such as Enchantress keep you around? Was it because of your sparkling personality?"

A growl was his answer and it seemed that the alien was done with the thinking, muscles twitching as if he was preparing to launch himself at Tony.

 _Any second now_ , Tony knew it and waited, and then the next moment all was over almost as fast as it began. The alien jumped, Tony let out the beam and with a pained growl the attacker was deviated mid-air to a nearby truck which he struck with a mighty thud, bending the metal around him.

Tony fell down like a rock, suit suddenly a dead weight around him and with trepidation he started calling out, "Captain, are you there? I could use some help right about now."

And just when things couldn't get worse, he heard the screech of metal bending out against its will, and heavy thuds as someone was taking slow measuring steps towards him.

"Jarvis, how much longer?" He asked, heart beating a wild staccato on his chest, the feeling he was trapped and couldn't move clouding out his senses.

A hand was suddenly in his shoulder and with a strangled yelp he made an awkward dodge only to have someone grab him by the arm, "Settle down, Tony. It's me," came Steve's welcomed voice.

"Right. I knew that. What happened to the other guy?" Tony said, trying to clamp down on his earlier panic.

"As far as we could tell, the Enchantress teleported him out of here, just as all the Hydra soldiers disappeared as well."

"That can't be right. There hasn't been any mass teleportation device invented yet. I know, because I would be the one to do it.""

"I don't know about that, Tony," Steve admitted, fighting a tired grin. "They went away terribly fast just after the two guys you were chasing went through a portal of some kind."

"And what about you Cap? Why you were struggling with them when I came?"

"I don't know for sure, but they were strong and fast. Much more than regular humans."

"Sir," Jarvis interrupted their talk. "I have the files you asked regarding what was stolen from Lumina Pharmaceuticals. Compound PTX-589, labeled as saline solution."

"But that doesn't make any sense," frowned Steve. "Why would Hydra steal something that they could get almost for free?"

"Because, I suspect the label is a bit of a misnomer." Said Tony, finally getting up with his suit operating at 20% of its capacity. "Lumina Pharmaceuticals were working on their version of the super-soldier serum."

"Right," said Steve Rogers, his entire face darkening. "Perhaps Director Fury has something to tell us about that."

"Perhaps," acknowledged Tony.

xXx

Once she'd been a world leading expert on genetic manipulation, but ever since allegation of misdemeanor and unethical use of drugs during clinical trials had ruined her reputation, doctor Stephanie Spencer used her keen mind and ruthless disposition to climb ranks until it got her to the title of research assistant to one Arnim Zola, leading scientist of Hydra.

She had stood against hostile boards of review without a flinch and the police could never pin anything on her, yet every time she stepped into his office she could barely repress the cold shivers crawling down her spine. For all the things society condemned her for, whenever she laid eyes on Dr. Zola she thought she was seeing pure evil.

"Sir, the operation was a full success," she said carefully placing the files on his immaculate desk. "However several things have come to light during the intervention."

"And what are those things?" Dr. Zola asked, never looking away from his tablet. The recording of a current experiment was currently on taking most of his attention.

"It would appear that SHIELD might have in their employ a magic user. She is the reason Iron Man is still alive, even though the Enchantress has assured us that the curse on his arm would kill him in less than 12 hours."

"She?" his eyes flickered towards her, his interest in the experiment waning as it focused on a new target.

"A healer, Harriet Potter, at least according to her SHIELD files. She is on the auxiliary personnel section, low priority, that's why we have passed her on our previous searches."

"She's alone?"

"No, it would appear she's living with her son who is suffering from an undisclosed medical condition."

"Hm, and we know exactly what that means, don't we?" he said, a hint of a satisfied smile curling his thin lips. "Very well then, have an extraction team stand by. We are running low on subjects."

"Sir," she hesitated, then spoke even though her saliva seemed to have vanished from her dry mouth, "should we inform Enchantress?"

"Whatever for?" Dr. Zola waved a hand dismissively. "Looking at the file it is clear that Healer Potter did what she could only because of the peculiarities of her mutation. No need to involve the Enchantress in this. She's our ally. These two" he said placing his hand on the files on the desk, "will be part of our experiments," he said and then turned back to his tablet.

Knowing she was dismissed, doctor Spencer stepped outside the office just as anguished crying could be hear from the tablet. She was not a compassionate woman, but even she could feel some forgotten dregs of pity making their way in her system. That small family of two would never know what hit them.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Violence, death of character (not major), swearing. Also the author is quite rusty so there may be some awkward phrasing and words that probably don't mean what I think they do. Also things are getting darker.

The place felt cold and wrong in a way that had nothing to do with air temperature and everything with the books and manuscripts scattered around. The paper crinkled when Loki stepped on it, dust floating up whenever he made a move, but the Asgardian paid it no attention. He looked around, until his gaze fell on the only book still carefully placed on the table in the middle of the room. Strange equations, graphic illustrations in a personal code many wizards and sorcerers used to protect their notes – and the Enchantress was no exception – but Loki knew enough of her pursuits to identify what it was all about. Soul stealing, or more exactly ability stealing.

Loki narrowed his eyes. Soul stealing required large amount of power, and the Enchantress was no slouch in that department, but ability stealing – taking away only those parts someone wanted while leaving the rest behind, was something he hadn't known was possible. Apparently he had underestimated the witch.

A shiver ran down his spine, and it had nothing to do with the book he was reading. He ignored it, just like he had ignored the general unpleasantness that has been plaguing him for hours. He was just turning another page in the fascinating book he was reading when that annoying tingle morphed into a figurative punch to the gut then faded away in an instant.

Loki stopped breathing. Only one thing could do that – the breaking of a protection ward. And as far as he knew it there was only one place on Earth he was guarding at the moment.

With a curse on his lips he let the tome fall, the ancient spine cracking under the sudden impact with the stone floor, and before all the pages floated to the ground, he was already in another dimension ready for battle. The scene that welcomed him on the other side of his journey made his blood boil with rage.

xXx

The house felt disquiet, like a cat petted the wrong way, and it was giving Harry a bloody migraine. Teddy had felt it too, and it had made him whinny and restless until Harry, driven to her last wit, had insisted he went to school.

She'd regretted it the moment he'd stepped outside the door, barely restraining herself from calling him back. But the distance would do their tempers good, Harry reasoned, while she figured out what had the wards on edge. The impatient ringing of the doorbell snapped her out of her musings and with a sigh Harry pushed her thoughts of dealing with her house on the side.

She peered through the peephole and the frowned when she saw two nondescript SHIELD agents standing on her doorstep.

Strange, she decided just when another spike of pain muddled her thoughts further, but there hadn't been any calls from agent Coulson announcing their visit. Reluctantly, she opened the door.

"Harriet Potter?" one asked, flashing his badge too fast for Harry to see anything but the SHIELD emblem.

"Yes?" Harry answered, brow furrowed. Nobody she knew here called her Harriet.

What happened next, she would always remember as a blur of pain, the bright flash of an electric weapon discharging into her chest from a close range, flying backwards and then falling down, down where only darkness reigned. By the time her back had hit the wall and she slumped down like a rag-doll, she was already unconscious.

She never heard the commotion that destroyed her living room only moments later.

xXx

Sheathing his weapon Agent Wade stepped carefully into the room, the air at the door giving a strange sort of resistance. He frowned and turned to his partner, Agent Ross, but the other man seemed unaffected. With long strides he went to the middle of the room and there he opened his briefcase and started to assemble the portable teleportation device with sure hands. That meant Wade had to go and secure the target for transport.

Approaching with caution he nudged her hand with his foot, and only after seeing no reaction he knelt beside her. With sure hands he started to pat her down, looking for weapons, when he noticed something worrying.

"Hey, Ross, I don't think she's breathing." He said, then he tilted her head to the side searching for her pulse. He really hoped the gun settings hadn't been too high, because Harriet Potter had been marked down as a prime live target, and his employer didn't take well to failure.

There was a muffled grunt and a thud sounding from behind him and he almost didn't pay them any attention still trying to determine if they had accidentally killed their target, when his survival instinct alerted something wasn't right. "Ross, wha…" he barely managed to say while turning before his words got stuck in his throat.

Radiating fury while smiling like a shark, there stood an green and black Asgardian warrior. At his feet, the other agent was a crumpled heap, neck twisted into an unnatural position.

Fueled by fear and adrenaline Wade shot to his feet, dragging Harry's unconscious form with one arm, to use as a shield, while simultaneously drawing his weapon.

The warrior narrowed his eyes, then he stepped closer while speaking in a tone of pure ice, "Let her down now and your death will be quick."

The agent swallowed, his eyes never leaving the warrior who looked too much like the Asgardian Loki, and wasn't that particular fellow supposed to be missing, while he calculated his chances. Moving slowly, he tried to get closer to the teleportation device.

"Let me go, or she's dead," he said trying for confident and missing by a mile.

Something very dark shifted in Loki's eyes, and then his entire demeanor changed.

"Do not presume, mortal, to tell me what to do," and as if afraid of his anger, a glass vase shattered into a million pieces, making the agent flinch. And that instant was all that it took, Wade barely having the time to gasp as a presence was suddenly at his back and a knife pierced his heart. He died with barely a gurgle while an impossibly strong hand blocked him from accidentally pulling the trigger. Loki didn't spared him a glance, his attention focused on Harry.

She was pale and not breathing, and the sight twisted something inside him, something which he had thought he had lost the moment he had learned Frigga had been killed. He pushed away the unnamed emotion, as he tried to find her wounds with hurried hands. He might not have been proficient at healing, but he had more than enough power to make up for it.

His hand hovered over her chest where an unnatural coldness seeped through her clothes. Loki frowned and the pushed against it with his magic, feeling some sort of barrier fighting him. He could tell the energy was not magical, it felt electric and soulless – the discharge from some kind of energy weapon. The barrier dissolved under his spell, snapping like a tensed string and with a gasp Harry took in a shallow breath.

xXx

She woke up feeling like an anvil was sitting on her chest, Loki's face hovering above her with tension lines around his eyes and mouth. "What?...How?" she asked, or just tried to, as if each word needed far more energy she was willing to spare, and then with a shuddering gasp Harry called, "Teddy!"

"He's not in the house," Loki said, while gingerly helping her up from her lying down position.

"School," rasped Harry after shaking her head,"you have…" but Loki was already setting her gently to lean against the wall and before she could finish her thought, and in three quick strides he was out of the room and disappearing outside.

Sitting slumped next to the wall Harry dizzily surveyed the mess that had become her living room. "What the bloody hell happened there?" She tried to get up, but quickly abandoned the idea when pain stabbed her right in the middle of her chest. With a shaking hand she prodded the region, but couldn't find anything amiss beside some residual coldness. As if prodded by her touch, memories started to rush in and Harry bit down a cry.

_Wand_ , she thought,  _she needed her wand_ , hands suddenly shaking, while she looked at every piece of broken wood littering her floor.

_There_ , she could see it just lying under a drawer apparently still in one piece. Summoning it to her was harder than had been for quite some time, her concentration broken by pain whenever she focused too much, but after one unsuccessful try, Harry finally had the wand back into her hand. She fell more grounded, even though the wandless bit of magic had left her faint.

"Point me Teddy," she whispered, too out of sort to go silent, but the wand just twisted around and around like a compass unable to find north. Harry felt her vision tunnel while a different kind of pain gripped her heart in competition to the one radiating from her ribs. She could feel the panic almost overwhelming her, her mind an endless litany of denial and calling for her son, and she held it at bay only with sheer force of will.

_Potter, only fools wear their hearts on their sleeves,_ somewhere from the depths of her memory a sneering tone broke through her mental meltdown and Harry almost started to laugh hysterically when she realized that her instinct of preservation sounded like her least favorite teacher.

_Later_ , Harry thought,  _she will fall apart later_ , but for the moment she needed potions to calm everything up and heal herself.

With more willpower than anything she tried get up and detach herself from the wall that had been her support and then Harry took a shaking step towards her study. Doing so put her into the position to fully view the living room and everything in it, and what stopped her cold where the two bodies.

The SHIELD agents.

Looked like Loki had found them.

And while the healer in her recoiled at the loss of life and the senseless killing, the soldier that she had been for most of her life partially understood. She didn't liked it, but she understood.

"I couldn't find him," Loki speaking right beside her started her so badly she nearly cursed him on the spot, only his reflex of catching her hand saving him from the spell. Luckily, because when she realized what he'd said, her knees buckled and she would have folded like a wet towel had him not picked her up. Moving as fast as possible he took her upstairs to her study, gently placed her on a chair and then tried to open the medicine cabinet. The wards crackled against his fingers and with a curse he snatched back his hand when touching the cabinet actually burned him.

"Harry, let me help you, " he said, not looking at her. At that Harry, almost in a daze, said with a tired tone, "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus." Which for a moment made him worry, only to have the cabinet in front of him quietly open.

"Top shelf, blue and green potion," Harry said, breathing with short gasps that did nothing to her dizziness, "and lower shelf the … violet one."

Loki picked up all the potions she asked for, and quietly handed them to her. She took a generous swallow of each, feeling with each drip the physical symptoms subsiding. Only a faint buzzing in her ears stubbornly resisted and the ice grip around her heart, but Harry feared there was no potion for that one. With a quiet sigh, she closed her eyes, feeling the need to regroup, when his quiet question fell between them like a metaphorical anvil. "Do you blame me?"

_Blame him? Why would she do that?_  It was not as if he was the one responsible for the attack and that line gave her something to latch on, "Why would I do that?" she rasped.

"For not being here. For not protecting you."

"No." Harry said, voice trembling. "It was not your job to protect us. It was mine." Loki looked like he wanted to argue, but then he pursed his lips.

"Do you know who were they?"

"They said they were SHIELD…but…"

"But?"

"If there is something I've learned, is that things are rarely what they seem. So I'm going to SHIELD to get some answers."

It was no wonder that Loki looked at her disbelieving; she could barely stand without his support. "No, let me do it," he offered, eyes lighting with something almost disturbing to watch.

"Loki, you're one hair above the order to be killed on sight," Harry argued. She was already feeling more stable, surely that meant she could go and wage holy revenge on everyone's head.

But Loki just smirked, a smidgen of mischief in his upturned lips, and suddenly one of the fallen agents was holding her up in his stead. "This should get me in," even his voice had changed.

"Shapeshifter," she said faintly, heart still beating too fast. But Harry could already see this work. "And once you get in?"

The agent was gone and Harry was looking at her exact replica. Except she didn't think she had ever looked that hungry for revenge.

"Loki, don't go burning any bridges that needn't be destroyed," she warned while Loki just smiled, and after depositing her on a nearby chair, he vanished still wearing her disguise.

Left alone, Harry closed her eyes, trying to grasp the panic and anger and worry still storming under the thin veneer of calm. One single tip and she knew she would go under, but she couldn't, not as long as her baby needed her. Keeping her mind focused on Teddy, she slowly gathered her composer and then she steeled herself for the task that needed to be done. She still needed information, Loki's infiltration of SHIELD notwithstanding, and as far as she could tell there was only one course of action available to her. The time for vague threats and carefully sounding warnings has clearly passed, she decided and with her mind made, she summons the Resurrection Stone from the pouch where she stashed it the moment she had tried to live a normal, quiet life. She needed answers, and while she had the stone, not even death would stop her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're one third through the actual story, and s**t is about to hit the fan. So get ready for things to go dark, before actually going right again. And fair warning: I'm very into angst when tired, and I've been very tired a lot lately, so …. You have been warned.
> 
> Enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The moment the Resurrection Stone touched her hand, everything around her changed, as if the colors had been leached from her reality, leaving behind only grey and twisted shadows. Unafraid, Harry searched the room for where the darkness was deeper, and with a firm tone she commanded, "I need to speak to them."

The shadows swirled together and out of them a skeletal face and hands became visible, with two embers of light flickering faintly in one bony grip. "Are you willing to pay the price?" a rasping voice made out of a thousand whispers asked her.

Harry barely refrained from accepting. Death in her own world had never questioned her will, but this incarnation was far more confrontational. It was definitely not happy about having a master.

"What is it?" Harry asked, caution warring with impatience. Every moment she lost here, Teddy was getting further and further from her.

"Life," Death answered, face splitting into a creepy grin. "Or life-force, to be more precise."

"Mine? Take what you need and let me talk to them," Harry said taking a step forward. For a brief moment, Death looked so hungry it made almost Harry shiver with cold, but, "No…I could never take it from you, Mistress," Death said, head tilting to the side as if in regret. "But it has to come from someone, really."

Harry suddenly had a very bad feeling about the conversation, "Anybody?" she said, tone not wavering even though she felt less than stable.

"Yes. Friend, family, foe, complete stranger," Death explained, moving the hand with the embers as if presenting them to Harry. "Are you willing to risk it?"

Harry gripped her fists so tightly she could feel her nails biting in the flesh of her palms. She was tempted, horribly so, to do it. Take the souls from Death and ask them all she needed to know, and damn the consequences, but she'd been burned too many times by just charging ahead without caring for the consequences. She didn't trust this Death not to take its payment from Teddy, for example. Simply put, she couldn't risk it.

"Take them away," Harry said through clenched teeth, and Death made a show of closing its bony hand on the souls then stopping as if pondering something. "Perhaps, a question I could allow you to ask each of them."

"And the price?" Harry asked in a clipped tone, because this game was slowly making her angry.

"A favor, for a favor." Death answered genially. "To be asked for at a later date."

Harry wet her dry lips then said, "Will this favor involve only me?" She would never agree if innocents were at risk.

"Only you, Mistress." Death grinned, knowing that it will have what it wanted.

"Deal," Harry said before she could talk herself out of it. She was aware she was taken advantage of, if Death's smug air was to be judged, but Teddy was far more important. Just as she finished saying the word, Death extended its arm and threw to the ground the souls it had been holding. When they hit the floor, they grew in a flash into the shadowy versions of the two deceased agents. Unlike the souls of her parents who had seemed almost alive when Harry had last seen them back in the old world, these two waited passively for her to ask her questions while Death stood calmly in the background.

Silent for one long moment as she thought of the best way to phrase it, Harry eventually asked with a steely voice, "Each of you tell me the one thing that will get me back my son."

She then waited for the answer.

xXx

Loki swore under his breath when another computer broke into sparks and ominous clouds of black smoke.  _These human contraptions were so fragile_ , he thought with disgust, while using a simple spell to dispel the smell of burnt plastic and the fire erupting from where the sparks had fallen onto the files that someone had left on the desk. The closed office had seemed the perfect place to start his search for information; he was now thwarted by the basic incompatibility between his strong magic and the fragility of the human computers.

Loki knew he needed a new strategy, and he needed one fast, for he feared he was attracting too much unwanted attention, and while the agent disguise had taken him this far, it won't survive a closer scrutiny.

The idea of a spell came to him just as he was preparing to leave, and it made him take of the hand he'd already placed on the doorknob. A Spell for Affinity, his mother had called it while explaining it to a teenage Loki who only wanted to learn of how to make things burn.

It was delicate work, and the results were pretty boring, at least he remembered thinking that way while Frigga's patient tone explained the finer details, but it would give him an image to all the people connected to one particular individual and also their level of commitment, as long as Loki possessed a personal object of his target.

Loki looked at the badge he'd taken from the corpse in Harry's house and judged it personal enough. It was now time to see who thought what about agent Wade, he thought and then concentrated on the spell.

xXx

Laura Wakefield was technology savvy and had the diplomas to prove it. And she was quite proud of them for they had gotten her working at SHIELD's IT support department, so she chose to decorate the walls of her small office with them. What it wasn't so obvious was Laura's love for chocolate, margaritas and her one-sided crush on agent Wade, but the water cooler gossip knew all about it. So when agent Wade came to her with a sheepish smile and a personal laptop spitting sparks and blue smoke, she stammered a little and then proceeded to rescue the information still available on the hard drive, while distractedly answering questions about accounts, passwords and SHIELD's electronic security. And if Agent Wade's smile turned wicked with each piece of information he coaxed out of her, she never noticed it. Not that it would have mattered in the end, because when a call came for a jammed printer, Laura blinked as if waking up from a dream and saw nothing suspicious around her, only that the clock on the wall presented a hour too advanced to be right. She raked her brain, but couldn't find any explanation for the time flying so fast, except that maybe she'd fallen asleep. After all, as far as she knew it, agent Wade didn't even know she existed.

xXx

With a mocking bow, Death dissolved back into the shadows, and in a fit of rage Harry threw the Stone to where it had stood only seconds before. The moment the Stone was away from her, the colors came back almost garish in comparison, the light from the windows burning her eyes. Taking a deep breath, Harry swallowed back the sob that was threatening to free her inner turmoil, and after pressing the heels of her palms to her eyes, she took a moment to recompose herself.

One shadow had told her a password and the other a set of coordinates and no matter how much she'd pressed, they had nothing else to add.

_Now what?_ , Harry asked herself. She couldn't just stay in the house and wait for Loki to come back with more information about her son; she needed to do something, anything, to stave the emotional storm that threatened to consume her.

And if Death denied her the answers, then SHIELD should be ready to provide them instead.

With a clear purpose in mind, Harry wasted no more time in getting ready. From the same trunk where she'd taken the Stone, she took the battle robes she'd packed for worst case scenarios she'd hoped would never come true. With each piece of enchanted material that replaced her everyday wear, Harry could feel her healer persona take a step behind as the fighter she'd been for most of her life took center stage. Donning the Invisibility Cloak as the final touch, and gripping the Elder Wand hard enough to make the wood creak, Harry apparated to where she knew SHIELD had their headquarters. She had some questions, and someone there would surely know the answers.

But first to find Loki and see what he'd found. The time for sitting idly had long passed.

TBC.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short. And not much is going on. Don't feel too disappointed because things are rolling down the hill, I promise you. Next update on Monday!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"If Director Fury is innocent, why do we need to kidnap him?" Harry asked while crossing her arms. Finding Loki inside SHIELD's headquarters had been easy when she had magic and an invisible cloak at her disposal. And it had been gratifying to hear he'd not been idle in the meantime.

"I didn't say he's innocent, just that it's unlikely that he's involved in this," Loki countered, while tapping rapidly on a computer that Harry was watching with worry. Her magic and technology didn't usually mix peacefully. After a moment Loki seemed satisfied with what he'd done and then moved the computer screen to show Harry something, "Here it is," he said just as the image of a large facility spread across the monitor.

"How big is it exactly?" Harry asked, squinting at the screen.

"Let me," Loki said and then he placed his palm on the screen, said a spell and  _pulled_ the image out creating a tridimensional image of the compound. Ignoring the startled breath he got from his companion, Loki grabbed another handful of data and poured it on the model, until it shone with dots representing people.

"So many," Harry said while gripping her wand.

"And hence, the need for backup when attacking it."

"And kidnapping Director Fury will get us that backup?" Harry quirked a disbelieving eyebrow at Loki.

"Maybe not, but I always thought that the Avengers make a wonderful distraction." Loki said, a smirk playing on his lips.

"I see," Harry studied the model for a long moment, then she said calmly, "Loki, promise me that if the battle gets too hard, you'll get away."

Loki stiffened, then straightened up from where he was fiddling with the image and faced Harry with almost exaggerated care, "Is your opinion of me so low?" he said through clenched teeth. "That I would abandon you? That I…"

Harry blinked her surprise, "No I…NO! LOKI! I don't want to have your death on my conscience!"  _you idiot,_ she said when she finally got a word edgewise.

Loki frowned, "Then you just think I'm weak." But some of the chilliness left his frame, and Harry sensing she couldn't win, suppressed the need to roll her eyes.

"Just…Promise me you'll stay safe," Harry closed the argument, then she said in a more business-like tone, "And let see if I understand what's going on. While I'm kidnapping Director Fury, you'll be?"

"Creating chaos," Loki answered, then pointed to a particular part of the model. "This is what powers their energy shield, so this is where I should begin."

xXx

"For the last time, Stark, drop it!" Nick Fury looked mad enough to chew his cigar, and for once Tony was glad that they where communicating via a screen, with the spy being several miles away from the Avengers Tower. And that Captain America was having his back for once, standing with his arms akimbo and glowering silently at the Director of SHIELD, from behind Tony's chair.

"Ah, ah," Tony raised his hand, "but I don't think I should. Not when you insist on sending us to clean-up missions without giving us all the details. Like the fact that you're still trying to make the Super-Soldier serum. And that Hydra has found a way to enhance its minions."

If the glare he got from Nick Fury's eye could have killed him, Tony figured he'd be already a few feet under. "Stark, stop butting your way into business that's not your concern. If I think you should be told of something, only then you will be told. Until then…" but whatever threat he was about to utter never got out when a loud bang suddenly had him alert and reaching for his gun, "Miss Potter, what…" and then a feminine voice said with righteous rage, "Fury, what did you do with my son?" just as the transmission was overcome with static.

"Jarvis, put on the auxiliary cameras!" Tony called just as one by one the screens in front of him started to feed him images from different corners of Fury's office. They were just in time to see Harry Potter standing like a vengeful angel over the Director's prone body, and then she grabbed him by his coat and with a soft pop they disappeared from view.

"Sir, Director's Fury signal is no longer at SHIELD's headquarters," Jarvis said as a different screen activated with trackers moving all over the world.

"Find him, Jarvis," Tony said, just as the image of a distressed Maria Hill called him. "Mr. Stark, can you tell me what happened?" she asked, while behind her several agents who were crowding Director's Fury office were putting they guns away.

"Not a damn idea," Tony answered already getting up from his chair, and ending the conversation. A blinking dot on the side screen tagged Director Fury appeared to be stationary, but when he called for image, all he saw was a desolate expanse of rocks and ice.

"What now?" having stayed silent until now, Steve Roger's question reminded him that he wasn't alone. The captain was already moving away, animated by the same tension urging Tony to act.

"I think that we should call the others and go check this out," Tony said, already on his assembly area.

"Do you think it's a trap?" Steve asked over their communication system, just as several voices commed in, asking what was going on, to which Steve barked, "Avengers Assemble! We have a situation."

"I don't know, but something doesn't add up," Tony replied just as the mechanized arms put on his chest plate. "I'll go first to scout things out."

"Tony," Steve started to say something, then he apparently changed his mind, "just be careful. We'll be right behind you in the StarkJet."

"Got it," Tony answered just as he took flight from the Tower. Alone in the sky he called out to Jarvis, "Put that audio that you've recovered one more time," On cue, just before the annoying static rattled his hearing, he could clearly make out Harry Potter saying to Director Fury, "Not even the Avengers can save you now."

And if that wasn't an invitation for them, he was willing to eat his suit. Somehow, he got the feeling things were about to get  _really_  complicated.

xXx

Doctor Spencer moved silently from one capsule to another, checking out the readings and the charts and never glancing at the bodies trapped inside them under a web of cables and IV's. To her, they were nothing but experimental subjects, and she'd learned long ago to leave any sentiments out of the lab. One had a very short life in Hydra when showing the wrong kind of emotions. Still, even she couldn't suppress a twinge of guilt when she started to review the data from their newest subject, the small seven-year old who'd needed twice the amount of anesthetic before he stopped causing them troubles and frying every electronic in a range of five feet around him.

One look at the charts and the unease transformed into excitement as some of the results shown there were off the scale. If these readings were right, they were one step closer to creating a Hydra Super-soldier, and not these temporary versions they now had in the Invincible Squad, who needed to be hooked regularly to a machine that siphoned abilities from people naturally born with them.

Mind already filled with calculations and possible outcomes she turned to leave and almost run into the Enchantress. The Asgardian had appeared out of nowhere, for once her brutish bodyguard nowhere in sight.

"What are you doing here? You know you're not allowed in the experimental area," Doctor Spencer asked with more courage she was feeling at the moment. The sorceress was volatile at her best, and ever since she'd agreed to be part of the experiments and receive additional abilities as well, there was an air of instability around her that made most of the humans she came in contact with, really nervous.

The Enchantress acted as if she'd never heard the question, approaching the capsule with such an expression, Doctor Spencer was tempted to call the guards. "So this is the little magic user they brought in. I could feel him the moment they dropped him here." The sorceress took a deep breath, lowering her eyelids, "A magic so pure, I need to have it," Amora said, already extending her hand to the capsule.

A flash of energy erupted from nowhere and zapped her on the hand, making her retreat a step. Enraged, she looked around then focused on the doctor still in the room, "What was that?"

Caught like a bird by the hypnotic gaze of a snake, Doctor Spencer couldn't move from her spot, not even when Amora invaded her personal space. Forcing out the words from a suddenly frozen mouth, she only managed, "Not… sure…, there are still many things we don't know about this particular subject."

The sorceress frowned thinking for a long moment, then commanded, "The next time you run your little experiment, I want you to direct all his power only to me. There will be no sharing for this one, do you understand me?"

Doctor Spencer could only nod, as the  _need_  to obey the Enchantress overcame any objections she might have had, even her well-founded fear of what Doctor Zola might do when he found out she'd messed with the experiment.

"Good," Amora smiled knowing that this particular human was not a challenge for her. She traced a finger on the heavy necklace she was wearing, stopping on the big orange glowing stone that was on its center. Ever since she'd teamed up with the human scientist she'd received a heavy dose of power from the experiments, but maybe it was time to cut loose all the ties between them. The humans were becoming too demanding for her taste.

She decided was going to disappear just as soon she got her hands on the delicious power she'd sensed in the small body currently heavily drugged inside the capsule.

TBC.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Sir, Director Fury's signal is right beneath us," Jarvis signaled as Tony reduced the speed of his flight.

"I don't see him," Tony hovered on air checking his visuals, "wait, there he is," and with a  _thunk_  he landed right where Nick Fury was doing his best impersonation of a sitting statue. Approaching carefully, Tony raised his mask and crouched in front of the man, "Nick?" Tony waved a hand in front of him and when that got him no reaction, he reached out a grasped on shoulder while instructing his AI, "Jarvis, check for…" just as Nick Fury suddenly took a deep breath and reached for his gun.

"Whoa, Nick!" Tony was immediately on guard, mask slipping on automatically, "I'm not the enemy!"

"Iron Man, stand on guard!" Nick Fury said, rising up a bit wobbly and immediately taking cover behind a big boulder.

"Against what?" Tony gestured to the big expanse of rock and ice surrounding them that seemed completely devoid of life, when suddenly there was a crackling sound as loud as thunder, while flashes of electricity started to run up an invisible wall, and the side of a mountain was no longer empty but housing a big grey fortress adorned with an impressive and incredibly ugly Hydra sign.

"Guys?" Tony called on the comm, his voice going a bit strained, "you'd better hurry up, cause I think I've just found out Hydra's HQ," he said and then he took cover just as several hidden doors opened up on the sides of the building and cannon fire started to rain on his location.

"Son of a bitch!" Tony swore with feeling, while dodging the air strikes and frantically searching for Director Fury, only to note with surprise that there was a perfect circle around the Director where no missiles were falling, while the ground inside shone with runes that were slowly fizzling out just as more and more bullets went that way. Judging that the spy was secure for another minute, and  _wasn't that interesting?_  Tony started to return fire, flying around the fortress and aiming at the cannons. He only managed to blow up two of them, and was actively firing at the third one when four large doors opened at ground level and several armored vehicles poured out, while behind them countless foot soldiers came in combat formation and began to fire at him.

Several lights blinked worrisomely in his HUD as bullets scratched his armor despite his speed, and he was already thinking of drastic plans, when a large thunderbolt exploded the lead armored Hydra car scattering the others following it.

"You called for help?" Thor asked, descending from the clouds and throwing himself into battle with relish.

"Yeah, what took you so long?" Tony asked, exploding another vehicle and the somersaulting away from the returned fire.

"Traffic," dead-panned Natasha from behind the controls of the Stark Jet, just as she started a salvo on the nearest group of Hydra soldiers.

As the others Avengers jumped off and started to fight, Tony felt the usual excitement as he began to weave his own special brand of destruction.

xXx

The sound of distant explosions permeated the thick walls of the experimental and research area, causing the scientists inside to exchange nervous glances while they worked on their computers. Several of them were standing at the edge of their seat, seemly ready to bolt, but too afraid to act as Dr. Zola was right in the middle of the room, manipulating several strings of data on the floating screens surrounding him.

A blinking dot caught his attention, and when he enlarged it, the head of security wasted no time to announce with a strained voice, "Sir, the Avengers are pushing our troops back!"

"How much longer before they breach security?" Dr. Zola asked frowning, already tapping commands on his data screens. The technology stolen from Stark Tech was moving impeccably, giving him the answers as soon as he inputted the questions.

"Five minutes," The commander said with a grim voice just as a large explosion rocked the fortress.

"More than enough," Dr. Zola replied calmly while entering the final data and closing his work windows, "Start the Invincible Protocol, raise the beacon and have the Enchantress guard it."

"They will never know what hit them," The head of security said looking relieved, just as Zola terminated the transmission.

"But Sir," one of the doctors intervened, ignoring the warning looks given to him by his colleague, "even with the serum injected in the soldiers, the rate of success for abilities transfer is only 69%. And four test subjects died during the last grand scale experiment," by now his voice was wavering as he realized that all the scientists were actively avoiding to look at him.

"Security, remove him from the perimeter," Dr. Zola called and two soldiers immediately grabbed the hapless man and dragged him outside.

"Any other objections?" Dr. Zola addressed to the room, and when no one responded, he continued, "Good, now initiate the Invincible Protocol."

xXx

They were slowly making their way through the Hydra soldiers, as more of them fell down and didn't get back, when with a loud ramble, panels started to shift on the central tower of the fortress until a huge orange glowing crystal became visible. Energy lines came alive at its base and the structure began to pulse with light.

"What do you think is that?" Captain America asked while he frisbeed three Hydra soldiers with his shield and delivered a punch to a forth one.

"I don't know, but we need to destroy it," quipped Hawkeye while aiming and releasing an exploding arrow that took down two Hydra soldiers. Only that unlike before, they didn't stay down as something orange started to glow on their collar as well, and suddenly they were up and running as if they didn't have any injury. "Guys? I think we have a problem!" he managed to say just as he released another exploding arrow that only managed to slow them down a little, when it should have taken them out of the fight.

"Hulk, SMASH!" roared the green giant jumping in the air and aiming his clenched fists on the structure, only to be stopped mid-air by a invisible shield that trapped him and scorched his skin. "I'm afraid I can't have you interfere," the Enchantress appeared from thin air in front of them, standing guard for the structure behind her. On her neck a giant orange stone pulsed with light as well.

xXx

Harry sighed with relief when the shield that she'd drawn around Nick Fury fulfilled its purpose, and seeing that both him and Iron Man seemed to manage at the moment, she apparated near the entrance of one of the great doors from where soldiers were coming out. Spying a break in their numbers, she ran inside with the invisibility cloak protecting her from enemy eyes until she found a relatively quiet corner where she took out her wand and whispered, "Point me, Teddy."

For a second the wand seemed undecided, switching between two very different directions, but then it settled on a corridor to her left. With a growing feeling of urgency, she went down on it, stupefying any soldiers she'd come across. She stopped periodically to check her wand, when suddenly an alarm started to sound and all around her steel doors started to seal up the corridors. Completely worried now, she started to run, squeezing between a few doors but stopping just as another one closed right in front of her. Punching the password she'd received from the dead agent took her behind several more doors, until she was in front of a big steel one guarded by several soldiers.

Something told her she was as close as possible to her destination, so Harry didn't hesitate. With a few well placed stunners and a slicer spell, she had them all unconscious on the floor. The door didn't respond to her attempts on opening it, so she gathered her magic and blasted it open. With guarded moves, she passed the torn remains and entered a big room filled with capsules connected to a grid of cables glowing with pulsing orange light. All the cables came together on the ceiling of the room feeding what looked like the base of a giant orange crystal that went much further than the room's ceiling.

She looked on for a moment without understanding what she was seeing, just as the urgency she had been feeling transformed into dread. With a shaking hand she called out once more for the pointing spell, and for once the wand firmly pointed to the back of the room.

"Teddy! No!" Harry cried as she spied his limp body inside one of the pods and for one panicked moment she forgot all about magic as he tried to pry the lid off the capsule. When the lid didn't even move an inch, she banged her fists on it, frustration overwhelming her for a second. The pain from her hand, as the wand she was still handling dug into the fleshy part of her palm, woke her up and made her realize how stupid she was being and with a furious  _"Evanesco"_ she vanished the lid.

One more swish, and the IV's feeding Teddy drugs were gone as well, and shaking from all the pent-up emotions she was carrying, Harry lifted him up from the pod and gathered him close while whispering frantically. "Teddy, wake up, baby! Please wake up!"

In her arms, Teddy stirred a little, and what Harry couldn't see as she clutched him tight to her chest was the lupine glow of his eyes, just as fingernails started to turn into claws.

TBC.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I will add more tags as the work progresses, but for the moment this is the gist of it. So what do you think?


End file.
